Had Central funds reached J-K, homes would have had gold

People in Jammu and Kashmir would have had gold-roofed homes if previous governments spent all the funds released by the Centre for the restive region's development, BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in suburban Goregoan on Sunday.

Speaking at a rally here on the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370, he added that the move by the Centre would bring progress to J-K.

"The Indian government has spent Rs 2.27 lakh crore so far on Jammu and Kashmir since its formation. Had it gone to people, their houses would have had roofs made of gold," Shah claimed.

He said that Article 370, which gave J-K special status, allowed governments there to not establish an anti-corruption bureau, making it easy for some to "loot" the money that was being sent by the Centre for development works.

"Previous governments in J-K did not allow implementation of the anti-corruption law. There was no anti-corruption bureau either. Earlier governments indulged in rampant corruption. As there was no ACB, money sent for the people was siphoned off," he alleged.

"Article 370 was not for protecting the culture of Jammu and Kashmir. It was for protection of their (political leaders) corruption," he said.

In a historic move on August 5, the Centre nullified Article 370 and announced bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.